Steel metal.



AUGUSTE J. ROSSI, F NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE TITANIUMALLOY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Loeaeet.

Specification of Letters Patent.

STEEL METAL.

Patented June 18, 1912.

No Drawing. Original application filed October 10, 1911, Serial No.653,784. Divided and this application filed January 4, 1912. Serial No.669,433.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, AUGUsTE J. RossI, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State ofNew York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in SteelMetals, of which the following is a specification, this being adivisional application of my prior application for United States LettersPatent filed October 10, 1911, Serial No. 653,784.

My present invention relates to products derivable from the methods forproducing steel, disclosed in my said priorapplication,

these being more particularly steels of approved tensile strength,without content of hitherto practised additions of manganese andsilicon.

Hitherto in thema-nufacture of steel byeither the Bessemer, or openhearth, or crucible methods, it has been deemed indispensable toadd tothe moltenmetal man ganese and, silicon for purposes hereinaftermentioned, the fact being that final steel products containing less thancertain percentages of manganese, say from 0.4% to 1% or even somewhatmore, are regarded as unfit for certain purposes, as for instance rails.This insistence on manganese is based on increase of ductility andtensile strength believed to beimparted by certain proportions of thatmetal. On the other hand, as

is now well understood, excess of manganese produces the contrary.effect, and, if excessive, 'prohibitory brittleness. Properproportioning of manganese therefore presents an important, and oftendifficult," problem in actual industrial operations; the effect ofmanganese on oxid of iron present, and con sequently theamount ofmangaiiese retained in the final product, varying unaccountably withbaths of apparently the same composition-as regards constituentsiotherthan said oxid. As is well known, manganese is almost invariably addedto the metal in the forms of spiegel-eisen, or term-manganese,

according to the proportion of manganese desired in the final steelproduct. Advantageiis taken of this association of iron with themanganese to utilize the alloy, or compound, as a recarburizing agent onaccount of its carbon constituent. Thus in the treatment by manganese ofso-called Bessemer steel, the ferro-manganese, or spiegel-eisen,

as the case may be, is usually introduced into the metal in theconverter near the end of the blow in such proportions as to supplydeficiencies of carbon, and assure in the final product the desiredpercentage of manganeses after allowing for losses dud to its reactionswith the oxide On the other hand, the ferro-manganese or spiegel-eisenis sometimes added to the metal in the teemproduction of steel by theopen hearth, basic or acid, processes the manganese is likewise, in theforms OfspiegeI-eisen, or ferro-manganese, added usually to theprepared, or properly carburized, metal in the furnace. In themanufacture of crucible steel the manganese is similarly added to themetal before the same is poured from the cruing to present practice thecarbon constituent of the ,spiegel-eisen or ferro-manganese is, or not,depended upon for recarburization according to convenience, or method,employed; but that, in all instances, incorporation of manganese asaforesaid is practised as essential and for the purposes aforesaid. Asto silicon, this element is usually introduced in the form offerro-silicon and ditions of ferro-manganese or spiegel-eisen, theproportions of the silicon being such about 0.06% to 0.2% of thatelement. The

thus added is, in part, like that of manganese, reduction of the oxidsof iron, and

convert carbon present from the combined into the graphitic state.

manufactured as aforesaid by aid of additions of manganese and siliconmay be 1mportioned to incorporate titanium suflicient to combine withall undesired elements and compounds not previously removed by saidmanganese or silicon, for which invention Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, No.

1,003,805 were granted to me on September 19, 1911. I have also,.howevr,discovered that the aforesaid additions of manganese and silicon,including spiegel-elsen, ferromanganese and "ferro-silicon, may, withing ladle instead of the converter. In the cible. It will thus beobserved that accordsubstantially similarly to the aforesaid ad- 1effect at present attributed to the silicon I have heretofore discoveredthat steel titanium in the form of ferro-titanium pro-.

as to retain in the final steel product from likewise, it hasbeenclaimed, a tendency to proved by also'adding thereto, when melted,

titanium be added, this resulting in production of a novelhigh gradesteel, more economicall and readilyproduced than former steelscorresponding grade contalning manganese. and silicon.

My present invention may be practised as follows, vi'z :The iron oreemployed is first hearth accelerated a mediate ladle, the alloy of ironfurther treatment in thus recarburized so as ent. I then pause insmelted as usual. The resulting iron while molten is next purified to anextent by the usual procedures, moved therefrom many undesired elementsand compounds therein contained as by aid of the 'air blast in theconverter of-the Bessemer process, or by aid of the oxidizing action ofthe producer gases of the open by additions of ore or by aid of wellknown in the metal prior to its the crucible. Each of these heretoforelong practised methods of scrap, or both, or reactions producedpurification result, as is well known, in removing from the metal notonly undesired elements and compounds but also, incidentally,substantially all of the manganese, silicon, and more or less, of thecarbon therein contained. My next step is, as usual, by any of the wellknown methods now practised, except by additions of compounds nese, torecarburize the metal purified as aforesaid, i. 6. add thereto andincorporate therein while molten carbon suflicient to raise the totalcarbon content to the desired percentage. Such recarburization may beeffected in any of the several ways familiar to those skilled in theart, such, for instance,

as by additions of pig iron sufliciently high in graphitic carboncontent to supply the per cent. of carbon desired in the. final product,or, even, by additions of carbon itself, etc. The very generally, if notuniversally, prevailing resort to additions of ferro-manganese orspiegel-eisen for recarburizing the prepared metal particularly thatproduced in the Bessemer converter is thusavoided by my process.

When the steel is produced by the aid of the Bessemer or pneumaticburize either in the. converter or in the intermediate ladle, by any ofthe well known recarburizing methods other than by ferromanganese orspiegel-eisen. To the metal to contain the .required percentage ofcarbon I add, either in the converter, or preferably in the interandtitanium in quantity sufficient to incorporate enough titanium tosatisfy the affinities therefor of all undesired elements and compoundspresthe operation a time determined to be suflicient to insure all thereactions possible with the titanium, after which the metal may bepoured and cast that is to say there is re-' or usually most,

or alloys containing manga-e process, I recarinto ingots as usual. Whenthe ferro-titanium is introduced otherwise than in theconverter, Iprefer to add it to the metal while pouring.

In cases in which the by the open hearth, basic or acid, processes theferro-titanium should be added on pouring the metal into theintermediate ladle and there likewise allowed to rest a time sufficientto insure all the reactions attributable to the titanium.

In cases in which the steel is produced by the crucible process socalled, the ferro-titanium should likewise be added to the metal as itis poured from the crucible into the intermediate ladle and there alsoallowed to rest a similar time as aforesaid.

In all the foregoing instances cited of the application of my process,whether to Bessemer, open hearth or crucible steel, it will be observedthat my novel steel product is produced entirely without the aid ofanyof the hit erto practiced additionso-f manganese or s'licon in anyform;

Notwithstanding the absence in my final resulting steel product of addedmanganese and added silicon, it will be found that the tensile strengthaccording to content of carbon will be fully as great as, and in someinstances has proved greater than, that characterizing steel produced bythe previous methods employing additions of manganese and silicon. Myresulting steel productis therefore distinguishable from those precedingit. in the particulars that it will be found by chemical analysistocontain some titanium, if only traces, also approximately say not toexceed 0.2% or usually less, being the remainder, after reactions, ofthe manganese incidentally contained in the-materialsemployed. .My saidfinal product may also be distinguished as containing approximately saya few hundredths of 1%, or less,.of silicon, also the remainder, afterreactions, of the silicon incidentally contributed by the materialsemployed, and my said final product is also further distinguishable" inthat, notwithstanding it may contain only a moderate per cent. ofcarbon, say for example not to exceed 0.5% its tensile strength is asgreat, or greater, than though it had contained the heretofore usualpercentages of manganese and silicon required for instance in steel usedfor rails. My resulting product is thus broadly distinguishable fromwhat has preceded it in the aforesaid particulars of containing sometitanium, including traces thereof, much less manganese, much lesssilicon, if any more than traces, and less carbon than previous steelsof substantially the same or even less tensile strength. r

I am aware that it has hitherto been suggested that beneficial resultswould follow this being.

of manganese, this,

v .to produce my present invention, the proportion of titanium therebyadded being altogether too small, 71. e. from 1 1,5 of 1% to 5 of 1% oftitanium, which is less than sufficient, in anycase, to combine withandeliminate the undesired elements and compounds present even' in thesteel referred to .which does not appear'tohave been eX-- empted fromthe aforesaid, hitherto deemed indispensable, additions of manganese andsilicon for purification or other purposes,

. my invention being distinguishable from such procedure in that, amongother difierences, it dispenses with additions of aluminum, manganeseand silicon, and to that end employs titanium in quantity suflicient tomake up for their absence and impart to the resulting product, withenhanced economy and simplicity .of operation, more desirablecharacteristics.

I amalso aware that it has. been previously suggested that titanium beadded to steel in such large percentages as to justify designation ofthe resulting product as an alloyed l or titanium, steel, 2'. e. a steelwhich owes its distinguishing properties chiefly to the presence of athereto added and therein retained element other than carbon, such astitanium. My present invention is distinguishable from suchproducts inthat the steels referred to do not appear to have been exempted from theaforesaid hitherto deemed indispensable addit-ions of manganese andsilicon, and the amount of titanium added to justify designation of theproduct as a titanium steel is much greater than that employed by my Y.

method, and retained, ifany, in its resulting steels.

I am also aware that it has been suggested to add to ,steel, containingfrom 0.15% to 1% carbon, and in alloy therewith from 1 to 10% of nickel,from 0.50% to 10% of titanium and from 0.15% to 1% of manganese, or,also, from 0.15% to 5% of chromium for'the purpose of attaining analleged improved alloyed steel metal, but this method of treatment aswell as its resulting 'product are also distinguishable from minenotonly in its intentional and asserted indispensable addition ofmanganese, but also more particularly in the dependence of said-methodon additions of the other metals other than titanium mentioned and theirpresence in the resulting product; my method, on the contrary, placingno dependence on such additions, and

my product being characterized as substantially devoid of metals otherthan steel, titanium, and the minute percentages of manganese andsilicon above referred to as unavoidably left over from the contentthereof in the raw material operation.

'What I claim. as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is thefollowing, V1Z1 I 1. As a new article of manufacture, steel containing,by chemical analysis, titanium in amount not to exceed two per cent.,manganese in amount not to exceed 0.2 per cent. and characterized 'assubstantially devoid of other metals.

2. As a new'article of manufacture, steel containing, by chemicalanalysis, silicon in amount not toexceed 0.02 per cent, also titanium inamount not to exceed'two per cent. and manganese in amount not to exceed0.2, per cent. and characterized as substantially devoid of othermetals.

. AUGUSTE J. ROSSI. Witnesses: Y WALTER D. EDMoNDs,

GEORGE G. MEASURES.

prior to my

